Comfort and Joy
by GinervaMarieChaseEverdeen
Summary: Christmas holidays of their sixth year is the first time Lily or James stays at Hogwarts for the break. They had become friends in the past year, and on Christmas Eve James notices Lily sitting alone looking rather sad. He decides to go see what's wrong, cookies are eaten, Sirius meddles, & someone is asked on a date. Jily Secret Santa 2015, One Shot, For:@breakingthebees on tumblr


**Jily Secret Santa 2015**

 **To:** Ezzie breakingthebees

 **From:** Lauren ginervamariechaseeverdeen

 **Request:** Jily being students at Hogwarts

 **A/N:** Merry Christmas from your secret Santa! I hope you enjoy this Christmas Jily one-shot! It takes place during their sixth year over Christmas break :)

* * *

Most of the Gryffindors were home for the holidays, and out of the few who remained at Hogwarts, even less were still awake that Christmas Eve night. James Potter and Sirius Black, one half of the infamous Marauders, were sitting on a couch over by the window purposefully botching the lyrics to various Christmas carols while planning their big prank to herald the New Year once term started and Moony and Wormtail returned.

As the common room cleared out for the night, James happened to notice Lily Evans curled up on a small sofa by the fireplace wrapped in blankets, eating what appeared to be a plate of gingerbread biscuits.

"So, Prongs, what do you think?" Sirius asked.

James didn't respond, so Sirius looked up from their plans to see what had distracted his friend. As soon as he noticed Lily alone on the couch, he decided to give James a little push and help him out. He and Lily had been more civil this year and even considered each other friends now, something that had astonished Sirius at first. Now though, he figured that James, after actually getting to know Lily, had a much better chance with the girl he had been crushing on for years, so Sirius let out a large, fake yawn.

"Prongs," he said a little louder, tapping his mate on the shoulder.

"Oh, yeah what was that Padfoot?" James asked, as he whipped his head around.

"Nothing, I just wanted to let you know I'm headed up to the dorm for the night."

"I'll head up in a bit. G'night Padfoot," James replied.

"Sure. Goodnight Prongs," he said, as he stood up, gathered their plans, and headed for the stairs to the boys dormitories.

As soon as Sirius had walked away James' attention turned back to Lily, who was nibbling on a biscuit, staring dejectedly, or so James thought, into the fire. After realizing that they were the only two left in the common room seeing as how it was approaching midnight on Christmas Eve, it still took him a few minutes to convince himself to go over to her. Even though they were friends now, he still feared the day that she would go back to hating him like she did the previous year.

"Hey Lily," James said softly, as he sat next to her on the couch. "Where'd you get those biscuits?"

"Oh hey James. Want one?" she offered. After he grabbed one from the proffered plate, she continued, "I know it's not very prefect-like of me, but I've got a good relationship with the house elves in the kitchen. I used to hang out down there a lot first year before I really made a lot of friends, and it comes in handy to be friends with the kitchen elves at times like this when I really just want some gingerbread biscuits."

"Ah, bless them. The boys and I also have a good relationship with the kitchen elves, as you put it. I'm surprised I've never run into you down there," James told her before taking a bite of the biscuit he was holding.

Lily just nodded and stared back at the fire, leaving it up to James to continue the conversation.

"So do you normally stay for Christmas hols? This is my first year staying so…" he trailed off.

"This is my first year staying too. Why are you here then instead of with your family?"

"Oh, Mum and Dad wanted to go to France for the holidays, and while France is great and all, Sirius didn't want to go, claimed he didn't want to be a burden. As if… Mum and Dad consider him a second son and would have loved for him to tag along. Sometimes," he whispered conspiratorially, "I think they like him more than me, their own son! I personally think it's his hair," he joked. "Anyways, since Sirius was staying, I didn't want to leave him here all alone, and I figured that Mum and Dad could always use a romantic getaway without their son tagging along, so here I am. What about you Lils?"

"Well," she said softly, "my older sister's boyfriend is staying with my family over Christmas, and while that normally wouldn't bother me, I kind of despise him. Vernon is actually the absolute worst. He's just so boring. And on top of that, he thinks I'm some sort of delinquent. Petunia already thinks my being a witch makes me a freak, and she can't very well tell her boyfriend, so I think she told him I go to some sort of reform school. I honestly don't know. So, I would be stuck at home with people who dislike me, while having to pretend to be a muggle. No thank you. I mean, yes I miss my parents, but I decided that I'd rather stay here. It's probably safer for them anyways if I'm not around too often," she muttered the last bit.

James scooted a little closer to Lily to grab another biscuit before responding. "I'm sorry," was all he could think to say.

"It's not your fault," she responded, turning to look at him for the first time since James had joined her. She noticed him shiver and lean a little closer to the fire. "C'mon, get under here," Lily instructed, lifting the blanket, so that James could share. "Promise I won't bite," she added with a small smile when he didn't move.

"Alright," he accepted, pulling the blanket over his lap. "So why gingerbread tonight?" he asked curiously grabbing yet another from the dwindling plate.

"Mum would always make gingerbread biscuits on Christmas Eve for Santa when Petunia and I were little, and as we got older, we kept on making them. I guess it sort of became a tradition. They remind me of home and it just doesn't quite feel like Christmas without them."

"Gingerbread biscuits are actually my favorite," James confided in her and paused for a moment to think before continuing. "We don't really have any specific Christmas Eve traditions other than my parents dragging me along to some fancy party with their friends and coworkers where I tend to be completely miserable. So it's actually kind of nice getting to relax today."

"I can understand that," Lily said, staring at the fire again.

"Any reason for sitting here along and staring at the fire other than the spiteful sister and her dreadful boyfriend?" James asked.

"That's it mostly I guess. I just don't feel much Christmas spirit this year. The decorations here are beautiful and the food is delicious as always, but I miss my family. I can't help but think it's better for me to be here though. It's different for you being a pureblood, but as a muggleborn, I'm terrified that my family is in danger just for being my family," she explained.

"You're right," said James told her, "not about it being better for you to be away from your family but about me not really understanding your situation. I do get how scary it is though. I mean, muggleborns are just as much witches and wizards as the rest of us—look at you for example. You're one of the best in our year, and your charms work is especially fantastic," he added, causing Lily to grin slightly. "Voldemort's stance is total crap, but he's gaining traction and has actually amassed a decent amount of followers. I see in the Prophet more and more about what he's doing, and it honestly terrifies me even though I'm not a muggleborn. I can't imagine how you must feel."

"Thanks James," Lily whispered, leaning her head on his shoulder. "It's nice to know that there are other people out there who don't think I'm worthless."

"Of course you aren't worthless Lils. You're one of the best people I know, hands down," he told her before yawning.

"You're not so bad yourself," she told him, causing James to grin hugely.

"Hey look it's snowing," he pointed out quietly after a few moments of comfortable silence.

"I love snow," Lily replied sleepily, her head still on James' shoulder, the plate of biscuits long empty.

"Me too. My dad and I used to have these epic snowball fights when I was a kid. It was the best. We'd build snow forts and everything…" James trailed off, struggling to keep his eyes open.

"Yeah…" Lily muttered, subconsciously snuggling closer to James since she was half asleep.

James glanced at the clock on the mantle and saw that it was getting closer to one in the morning than he expected. It was Christmas.

"Lily, it's Christmas," he whispered, closing his eyes. He'd get up in a minute.

"Happy Christmas James," she said softly, still not budging from her spot on the couch.

"Happy Christmas Lils," he replied, wrapping the blanket a little tighter around the two of them.

The next morning when Sirius woke up, it was quite early as per usual for Christmas morning and only Christmas morning. After scanning the pile of gifts at the foot of his bed, Sirius noticed that James wasn't in their room. No noises were coming from the lavatory, so he decided to head down to the common room to see if his friend was there before opening his presents.

The sight that greeted him brought a smile to his face. The fire was still blazing, which was not unusual for the magical castle, but James Potter and Lily Evans snuggled together under a blanket, fast asleep on the couch in front of said fire, was something no one had really expected to see.

Sirius was thrilled that his mate seemed to be making progress with the girl who had him especially enraptured as of late. He immediately decided that this new development was thanks to his push to get the two alone the night before, and a little more help never hurt anyone. So, he pulled out his wand, wordlessly summoned his camera and some of the mistletoe he had stashed up in their dorm. He snapped a quick picture of them to send to Moony and Wormtail. Then he levitated the mistletoe over the two before fake coughing, rather loudly. Sirius dashed into the stairwell as the two began to stir.

James blinked sleepily, the noise having rudely woken him from his sleep, and he felt a warm weight on his chest. His vision was dominated by dark red hair, and he realized that he and Lily had fallen asleep in the common room. A smile lit up James' face, and he decided to just lie there and enjoy this moment for as long as it lasted.

A "Morning James" interrupted his thoughts as Lily began to stir.

"Morning Lils. Happy Christmas," he replied.

"Happy Christmas," she said, sitting up and grinning at him.

"Sleep well?" he asked, running his hand through his hair without even realizing it as he sat up.

"Yeah," she responded, her smile growing. "You?"

"Yeah I did. Uh, Lils, do you see my glasses anywhere? They must have fallen off, and I can't see much," James admitted.

"There they are." She pointed to a spot on the floor as James dug around in the couch cushions. Lily leaned over to grab them off the floor and hand them to him.

"Thanks," he replied, looking down to clean them before putting them back on.

"James," she whispered. "Look up." She had noticed the mistletoe floating above their heads, and rather than running like she might have done a few months ago, she calmly pointed it out with a smile.

"Huh," was all James said when he first saw it. "Wonder how that got there… Maybe Sirius," he started to say before Lily interrupted him.

"I don't care how it got there."

"You don't," he gulped.

"No."

"Oh."  
"Well?" she asked, expectantly.

James began to lean in and pressed a soft kiss to her cheek. As much as it seemed like Lily wanted him to kiss her, he didn't want to misread things and overstep his bounds. This friendship they were forming was worth too much to him.

Feeling his lips on her cheek, Lily smiled again and turned her head before pressing her lips to his for a moment. It was soft and perfect and everything Lily always hoped a first kiss with a person would be like. She never expected it with James though.

Sirius, who was watching from the stairwell, silently fist pumped. Ten points to mistletoe, he thought cheekily.

"I wanted a proper kiss thank you very much," she whispered with a hint of her signature sass after they separated.

"Sorry," James replied with a sheepish grin.

"Nothing to be sorry about. It was sweet," she told him.

"I uh, have a present for you," James replied starting to get up. "Let me go get it."

"I actually have something for you too," Lily responded, pulling his arm so that he would sit back down.

"You do?" he asked incredulously.

"Yup," she said, standing up. "No stay there," she told him as he tried to stand up too.

"Well where is it then?" he asked.

"Be patient," she told him before making eye contact and lifting her hand to her hair, running it through the dark red locks. "Go to Hogsmeade with me, Potter?" she asked him cockily.

"Say yes you prat!" Sirius yelled from the stairwell through his laughs as a dumbstruck James sat staring at the very girl he had used that move on time and time again and failed every time.

"Really?" James asked.

"Yes really," Lily chuckled.

"Then yes, I'd love to go to Hogsmeade with you Evans," he replied standing up and pulling Lily into a hug.

"I'm really glad you said yes," she told him. "I'd actually kind of been hoping you'd ask for a while now."

"I'm not too insufferable?"

"Nah, you're not. Not really. And you can come out now Sirius," she called with a laugh as James let her go.

"Finally!" he shouted, coming into the common room.

"Padfoot guess what!" James turned to his mate and asked excitedly.

"What Prongs," he replied with an indulgent grin.

"I'm going to Hogsmeade with Lily Evans!" he shouted.

"I know Prongs, and you're welcome for the mistletoe."

"Thank you Sirius," Lily told him. "Now you boys go get your presents and bring them down here. We'll open gifts, go grab some breakfast, and then I for one would love to go have a snowball fight."

"That sounds brilliant Evans," Sirius told her, smiling. "C'mon Prongs. You heard the woman. We have gifts to fetch."

"Coming," James replied before turning to Lily again. "Happy Christmas Lily."

"Happy Christmas James," she chuckled before pressing a kiss to his cheek. "Now go! I want presents, and then this girl needs breakfast!"

"Yes ma'am," he said and raced up to his dorm.

As she watched him run off, Lily decided that so far this Christmas was shaping up to be the happiest one she'd had in years. Even though she wasn't home with family, she was at Hogwarts, a place where she really belonged and where wonderful friends loved her for who she was.

* * *

 **A/N:** Merry Christmas everyone!


End file.
